* Normal starter returned from injury/rest.1 Green separated his shoulder during the 1961 preseason.2 Kemp, recovering from a broken middle finger on his right hand, was claimed off waivers from the Chargers after Week 6.3 Bills coach Joe Collier, angry over a 37-7 exhibition loss to Oilers, first fined every member of the team, then held a closed-to-the-media full contact scrimmage on Monday. Both Kemp and RB Gary McDermott were seriously injured in the scrimmage. Collier was fired two games into the season.4 The Bills drafted Kelly in the first round in 1983, but he chose to sign with the USFL Houston Gamblers instead. The USFL folded in July 1986; Kelly signed with the Bills in August.5 Bills coach Wade Phillips inexplicably decided to keep Johnson as the starter for the Wild Card game against the Titans.6 Cassel played the first snap at QB with Taylor split out at WR, then went to the bench for the rest of the game.7 McCoy, normally a RB, took the first snap at QB with Anderson split out at WR. Anderson played QB for the rest of the game (until he was concussed in the 4th quarter).

* Normal starter returned from injury/rest.1 The 1961 Patriots had no set starting quarterback; by midseason, they were alternating Parilli and Songin on every play.2 Kapp originally signed what was termed a “memo agreement” spanning 3 years, $600,000 in 1970. When he refused to sign a standard NFL contract for the 1971 season, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle ruled him ineligble and had him forced out of training camp. Kapp, who never played another NFL game, filed a breach-of-contract and antitrust lawsuit in 1972 against the NFL. He lost on all counts.3 The “Toilet Bowl” pitted the 1-14 Colts against the 2-13 Patriots, with the loser getting the first pick in the 1982 draft.4 Flutie led a comeback in relief Week 5 against the Colts. The Patriots used an increasingly Tebowesque offense over the next nine weeks, culminating in a 55 rush/10 pass game against the Seahawks.

* Normal starter returned from injury/rest.1 Robinson injured his thumb shortly before the season opener while play-wrestling with a teammate. He then compounded the problem by a) not telling coach Walt Michaels until a day or two before the game, when it was too late to get the backup QB ready; b) lying to Michaels and the media that he hurt his thumb while trying to turn a doorknob just as someone was entering fromthe other side; and c) throwing a wobbly interception with 30 seconds left in overtime, turning a tie into a loss. Robinson never took another snap with the Jets and was traded to the Broncos a month after the season ended.2 Ryan was concussed during the first half of the Week 13 game against the Dolphins, but was not replaced until the middle of the third quarter. The Jets team doctor was the infamous Elliot Pellman.3 Esiason was concussed after Bruce Smith ran past false-starting Jets’ left tackle Everett McIver. No whistle was blown.4 Smith’s jaw was broken when teammate IK Enemkpali punched him in a locker-room dispute over unrepaid debt. The Jets immediately released Enemkpali.

A potentially controversial sequence of events occurred late in the second half of the Packers-Falcons game when it appeared that two different players possibly threw punches that could’ve have warranted ejections.